Glendora will continue to have it’s struggles until they can hire a coach who knows what the hell they are doing and get serious about it’s football program. Tonight is proof positive you just can’t yank a JAA Coach off a JAA field and make him a Head High School Football Coach. It is an absolute joke to watch Lewallen pace the sidelides throwing his arms in the air.He is totally lost!! When Glendora starts taking football serious again they will stop making hires like this joke they have as a head coach now!!! So long Glendora you deserve this loser!!!

sm

san marino had 2 costly turnovers in the second half that no one mentioned… a fumble and an interception that monrovia and one of them monrovia got the ball on the 11 and were already in scoring position to score a td and they did….

New York

To be fair, Gott totally jumped early the play before his rushing touchdown. The false start was not called.

GrimReaper

RE SM Monrovia
SM did what it needed to do, based on initial stats the two teams were very equal in every way. SM needed a +2 turnover takeaway advantage to win, and they had that in the first half. Three turnovers played big in the game, Blake Heyworth interception in the end zone to end a 1st half M threat. Wofford ill considered shovel pass, and a Wood fumble on the Monrovia 20. And as advertised the Monrovia team was their own worst enemy with multiple delays of game, false starts, holding, personal foul penalties to destroy drives. There were several drives that ended with 3rd and forever due to mental Monrovia breakdowns. So penalties and the failure of Monrovia to play calls to come in on time, continues to be a problem for Monrovia as has been past history for years.
So the game was there for SM to take, but the Monrovia defense was able to overplay the run, by playing more in the box, for the most part of the game due to SM over reliance on the run.
But at the end of the game, when SM started to pass more the Monrovia defense had to play it straight and the SM running game opened up. That in a re-match cannot be understated. Monrovia’s loss of their defensive lineman #58 to an apparent knee injury later in the game, was a big factor. At that point the inside running game opened up a lot.

End result there was not much difference between the teams. Penalties and turnovers will likely decide any rematch, should that develop in the CIF playoffs.

http://twitter.com/SGVTribPreps Fred J. Robledo

That’s exactly what I told Aram, he seems to think there’s some big gap between Monrovia and San Marino

New York

Freddy there are huge gaps between Monrovia and San Marino Football. Monrovia has a huge natural talent gap above San Marino. However, San Marino has a big preparation gap and talent development gap. If Monrovia’s natural talent gap were not so big then San Marino would have taken this game handily. San Marino would have scored twice on kicko-off if their guy were a half step faster. As it was, he took it past he 50 yard-line twice. Gott sneeked past our defense on a long run after catch as well, but he was caught from behind. San Marino’s coach might be the best in the valley. Well, he was offensive coordinator at South Florida University.
Watching Monrovia football can be very frustrating. I already mentioned our lack of special teams coverage. San Marino’s smaller line pretty much beat our bigger line. Offensively, our schemes were really foiled by San Marino’s 4-4 defense. We really had trouble blocking (essentially ignoring) the playside inside linebacker on run plays. We are still pass happy, but not off of play-action. It seems that we don’t appreciate 4-yard runs, as if that is just not enough production to justify another carry.

The redeeming factors are the flashes of brilliance: Maddox makes great half-time adjustments schematically. Blake and Mason and Anthony can connect down the sideline. G5 and Walsh are just bigger, stronger and faster than other players and natural selection takes over when they allow it. Ainsworth has many yards after contact. Jones is coming along. Bueno is very illusive with the ball in the open field.
I hate to say it, but I would not be surprised to see San Marino go further in the playoffs than Monrovia. Dont get me wrong, I fully beleive Monrovia has what it takes to run the table. My attitude, though, is that teams cannot simply decide to play at a high level. Even though San Marino is less talented, they have clearly been pushing themselves and improving every week. For Monrovia, we still make the same mistakes all the way around that we have been since week #1 at Ayala. So while San Dimas, San Marino and Paraclete have all known their identities for several weeks and simply refine and improve every week, it seems that my ‘Cats are still experimenting and salvaging victoris in situations that we have overwhelming talent. That includes St. Francis.
A great teaching-assistant in college once used the term: Striving for Excellence in lieu of “perfection.” Striving for excellence is a good thing.

New York

Reaper,
The reality is that it happened just as I said it would on an earlier thread. We would win by a less convincing margin than we should. San Marino plays a more physical brand, but ultimately Monrovia’s talent was far too great for SM to completely overcome on Friday night…even though we sure tried to let them win. For instance, how many delay of game penalties did we have? I’m sorry, don’t we have a Senior QB and a fifth year head coach? Hey fellas, y’all need to figure this thing out. And please don’t snap the football into the legs of the WR in motion again. That type of stuff should not happen in a Week zero scrimmage, much less in week #9. I really think our players and coaches beleived Aram’s press clippings about Rings and Scholly’s and took that to mean that there was not anymore room for improvement. The emporor is not wearing any clothes, so to speak! Tune in people! Monrovia football is not living up to its potential and it is a travesty. Wasted potential is one of the saddest things in life. I love watching teams like San Marino who really push themselves in an effort to be the best they can be. I love my Cats. I hope one day they see the same potential in themselves that I see and realize they need to step up and deliver.

GrimReaper

NY
I appreciate your measured response that considers the reality of the situation. Yes Monrovia is more talented physically and more challenged in execution. A potentially fatal flaw when it comes to facing the San Dimas and Paraclete of the Mid Valley Div 11 of CIF.

Monrovia has the inside track to the CIF championship, that cannot be denied given it will be a one seed or close to that. SM will have to as a two seed at best fight tougher teams to rise or fall. Monrovia will by contrast have the easy route of facing play in teams. Thus will only be tested in a couple of games.

So regardless of all the hoopla the Monrovia victory last Friday was huge, as it is likely Monrovia will maintain its number one standing in the Mid Valley 11., even if it was by the narrowest of margins and exposed several Monrovia weaknesses, for other more physically talented Monrovia opponents to attack.

So good luck and congratulations to the Monrovia program on its whatever-th consecutive RHL championship. and best wishes to #58 speedy recovery.. from what I saw, if 58 is out for long it will have a serious effect on the M D line.

But be aware that the rest of the RHL will no long lament a Monrovia decline. There are many ready for a change in the balance of power in the RHL– no matter where that change comes from.

The Status Quo is not acceptable to the rest of the RHL.

Note, it is unseemly for the PA announcer to act as part of the PEP squad…even more so for a program that wins on a constant basis. I would not be surprised to see an unexplained malfunction of the PA system happen one of these days at Monrovia Stadium.

Honest Thoughts

I’m hearing the same thing about Glendora. Kids complaining about staff and staff complaining about staff saying that Lewallen is indeed in over his head.
Maybe that explains the exodus of so many kids out of Glendora because they know the head coach all too well and have played for him earlier. I understand this is hearsay but it shows on the field. It’s week 9 and he can’t get the right personnel on the field with penalties and burnt timeouts. That’s lower level stuff. I’ve got two more years here. Am I going to pullout because I think my kids is Division one material. NO. I just want my son to have the same great experience of high school football that I had. Is Coach Lewallen the one to do that? I’m starting to have my doubts.

GrimReaper

Check back to my statements, if the Monrovia faithful are discussing penalties and ref-ing then the game was a SM victory or too close for comfort for the Monrovia faithful.

I rest my case that Monrovia. was more talented, but fatally flawed in execution. It is one thing to be a more physically talented team, but it is another to execute the game within the rules. That is the potentially fatal flaw in the Monrovia system, and the potential strength of the Hobbie SM system.

One cannot win (at least for long) if one is one’s own worst enemy.

GrimReaper

Comment #2

Aram and Fred

help Steve figure out how to fix his site comments.

He is no Caltech Beaver, no matter how the NCAA claims Caltech uses academically ineligible players.

GrimReaper

Aram

I will speak for Steve, as obviously in the video he was unable to provide a recap that would explain why the game was really a toss up. I will explain the way that three plays changed the outcome greatly

Original final score. 21-16

1. Heyworth throws a pick in the end zone. lets say Monrovia scores either a field goal or touch down Add 3 or 7 M points. redo the score 28 or 24 to 16

2. Driving SM loses fumble on the Monrovia 20 lets say no fumble SM scores a a touchdown or a field goal (28 or 24 M to 19 or 23 SM)

In 3 of the 4 permutations SM wins the game. And as it should be apparent to you, there was not a whole lot of difference between the teams last Friday night. I would guess that the stat sheet will back that statement up also.

But that is all academic as the game was played and Monrovia did what it needed to win.. and it is just another close game that Monrovia won. There is no doubt Monrovia is a physically talented team that has greatly benefited from transfers in. But they are far from the perfection you assume. Play calling, delay of game, penalties, poor execution plagued Monrovia all night long. Not an encouraging sign to the Monrovia fan like yourself, that expects another CIF title.

The thing I like about the new system here, is that only NY has figured out how to post, Philly and Big Cat et al havent got a clue and are likely grinding their collective molars as I type. But that was to be expected as Monrovia fan NY went to SM schools. Zing!

New York

Reaper, what are SM schools?
Look at the implications of having Monrovia in the RHL. Remove Monrovia, and San Marino would have finished 10-0 with a much easier road to the CIF semi-finals. I suppose the battle against Monrovia, though, will prove valuable for SM down the road. I really don’t expect San Dimas to stop San Marino’s run game. They don’t have the size. However, Zernikow is another good coach.
Again, Gott’s touchdown could have potentially been nullified in your slanted recap if he had been called for the false start on the play before.
This year’s San Marino team is a very good Mid-Valley calliber team. Monrovia seems to be an underperforming Southeast calliber team. It seems that the only way for Monrovia to truly have the motivation to improve is to have 10 weeks of good competition. I wish Monrovia would get placed into the Hacienda League. I think that would be a great fit for football.

Me

Zing? Really? Monrovia’s schools are just fine, even though most of us lowly Monrovia folks don’t have the kind of riches you folks in SM have and I’m sure once “Philly, et all” want to, they will comment. And since NY played for MHS I’m pretty sure he didn’t attend San Marino schools. BTW your outcomes don’t include the fumble by Jones that may have added points to the board as well. Also not accounted for are the line changes that took place mid game, as well as all season long, due to injuries. NY, being a former lineman I’d think that perhaps you were watching those guys to see what kind of consistancy is happening, or missing from, the O-line.

New York

Me,
That’s exactly right. I proudly attended Monrovia schools from K-12 with a slight detour when my family moved for a couple years when I was in elementary school. I never attended private schools until college and graduate school. I don’t like bashing SM for having “riches”, because I attended college with people from poor caribbean countries or even from the US and their families pushed them to study and take care of business. I don’t like the class-war and attitude of rich vs. non-rich. That is a losing proposition. My freshman roommate’s father was a towncar driver and his mother was a cleaning lady, but they raised three sons with two graduating from Harvard and one graduating from Cornell.
And Yes, I do watch our line play very closely. I also notice that our play selection does not let the big dogs eat and that really bothers me. I’ve noted that we have successfully run the ball against every team we have played. We were also able to muscle a touchdown on a QB sneak against the bigger South Hills. However, we also tried to get too cute by messing around with the snap count on 3rd and two more than once. Well, anyone who has played in the trenches realizes the psychology of 3rd and short, and the last thing we want to think about is the snap count! We will be good once things are finally well coordinated.
My heart goes out to any player who is injured. Sometimes I overlook or even discount some reported injuries because I never missed a game in high school, even though I do know that legitimate injuries happen. At a very early age my dad asked me if I was hurt or if I was injured. Thankfully I learned the difference because there are a very limited number of games that we get to play. Those of us who are fortunate to have played in a lot of games recognize how lucky we are. Missing one game means you miss 10% of the regular season. That’s a lot!

Me

They were real injuries, not owies. You were lucky, not to have sustained a real injury. Those boys on the sidelines in casts and on crutches would give anything to be in there playing. 10% is a lot, especially to a senior. I don’t like comparing riches to non-riches either, but implying that our alumni are dummies irked me so I responded in kind. I love the comments that give real feedback but the put downs for no good reason make me nuts, so forgive me. BTW – those people from your college didn’t grow up in San Marino. I get it that poor people can go on to greatness but it sure is easier to start at the top. Here’s hoping for no more injuries this season.

New York

Me,
I think we are on the same page with a lot of things. This blogging is not a good form of communication. I know that my lack of injuries had a lot to do with good fortune. A lot of my life can be traced to good fortune.

My issue is that mentioning the “riches” or even the bit about “starting on top” actually implies that San Marino is on top or that you are conceding that jerk’s point but asking him/her to put an asterisk next to it to denote the wealth difference. San Marino is a fine community but they are not on top of anything in my book. Would you consider Monrovia on top of Azusa or El Monte?

I prefer to poke holes in his statement and turn it back to whatever institution he claims to be part of. I actually thought he/she was with SoPas but maybe it is San Marino. Who cares, quite frankly. First of all I did not attend “SM” schools, although my dad and I did paint some houses in San Marino, and I worked a couple valet gigs at private parties there as well. Oh yeah and plenty of SM residents bought meat from me when I worked the meat counter at Howies. Second of all, blog traffic is WAAAYYY down with this new format. It’s not just Monrovia faithful who have dropped off, although we do seem to be the most active still. LOL.

GrimReaper

Me you took this way too seriously.

see my prior statement to you. It was a poke at Philly and Big Cat to call them out.

GrimReaper

it was a joke I was trying to call out Philly and Big Cat

I Thought they would read it and have a spasm because they couldnt figure how to post.

NY is a monrovia guy and I have respect for him

New York

Reaper,
If you intended to take a shot at Monrovia schools or rather boost SM (San Marino?) because of blog attendance plunging, then how does that reflect on the rest of the valley? This blog turned into one of those old-school Arby’s commercials: “Where is Everybody? Where is Everybody?” Besides, where are the San Marino bloggers? Not here.

Meta

Comments Policy

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@langnews.com.